Andreja Johansona jaunības gadu Rīga: atmiņas un kultūrvēsturiskas impresijas

Abstract

The article focuses on two books of the poet, essayist, cultural historian Andrejs Johansons (1922–1983), contemplations and reminiscences “Rīgas svārki mugurā” (‘Dressed in Riga suit’, 1966) and “Visi Rīgas nami skan” (‘All the Houses of Riga are Ringing’, 1970). On the one hand, they include a very personal (biographical) layer of memory, and, on the other, they can also be viewed in the context of collective memory, as they are associated with the memories of many refugees of the World War II – about the lost Latvia, Riga and home. In May 1945, Johansons, leaving Kurzeme and Liepāja by one of the last refugee boats, also took with him the memories that were later recounted in the two books. The sense of belonging to a place is important for the author; this feeling is symbolically reflected in the titles of both books. But this belonging to a place becomes more capacious – it includes events, memories and a certain time of life. While writing these books, Johansons was able to return to Riga to see it with the eyes of his youth. In both books, Johansons has marked (almost topographically marked on the map) places where he had lived and walked, and studied, enriching these places with a broader context. On the one hand, they are youth memories, and on the other, they are the unfulfilled craving and lost paradise of a long-lived, wise and educated exile. The significant value of both books is the wide cultural and historical background, historical digressions, thorough source studies and research, and a panoramic view of Riga, the capital of Latvia. The memory and reflection books about Riga by Johansons are changing, and because of this changing character, they are more than just memories. They are rich cultural, historical, and personal sketches. They make it possible to feel and even visually see Riga of the late 20s to early 40s of the 20th century. These books can inspire a 21st-century reader, a resident of Riga; they can stimulate to explore and find out about the city through its historical changes. The two books have become encyclopaedic editions that vividly and amply reveal the time, era, historical and cultural context, personalities and their destinies. Johansons’s books about Riga encourage us to look at the image of Riga in the literary works and memories of other writers, gaining a more colourful view.